Present technology used in school bus seats is quite old. Essentially, school bus seats are presently made using metal or metal and wood. Wood or metal is secured to the metal seat back frame and metal frame bottom. A covering which may include some type of foam is also used. The covering and foam are subject to wear and tear as well as vandalism.
Some of the problems associated with the present technology are set forth in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,609,395 and 6,415,494, which I incorporate herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,494 is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/530,451 filed on Sep. 18, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,395. Applicant also incorporates by reference Ser. No. 11/104,948 filed Apr. 13, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/954,782 filed Sep. 30, 2004.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,395 issued Mar. 11, 1997 disclosed and claimed a modular bus seat and method of retrofitting existing bus seats. My '395 patent discloses a bus seat comprising a metal frame, a bus seat back and a bus seat. My '395 patent discloses a bus seat back which includes a front modular portion, a rear modular portion, and a collar portion. The front modular portion is affixed to the metal frame. The rear modular portion is affixed to the front modular portion. The collar portion is affixed to the front modular portion adjacent the front and rear modular portions. The bus seat is affixed to the metal frame. The modular construction of the bus seat back enables replacement of a specific section or sections of the bus seat. The bus seat back and bus seat can be used in retrofit installations or in new installations using the existing metal frame technology. The bus seat back and bus seat are constructed of an elastomer skinned urethane foam which adheres to front, rear and bottom pieces of plywood. The collar portion is constructed of the elastomer skinned urethane foam but does not include a plywood portion. The collar portion is affixed to the front plywood portion.
My U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/204,361 discloses a design for School Bus Seat Back Envelope Cushion and was filed on Apr. 28, 2004.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 222 sets forth the safety standards for school bus seats. The safety standard addresses size, loading, energy absorption and deflection requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,662 to Correll discloses an Energy Absorber System utilizing a pair of housings having facing cavities which includes a hollow deformable torsion member interconnecting the housings. One portion of the torsion member is received in the cavity of one housing and another portion of the torsion member is received in the cavity of the other housing. The housing cavities have cross-sectional conformations which receive the torsion member in such a manner that relative rotation therebetween is prevented. Rotation of one housing relative to the other deforms the torsion member elastically and/or plastically. Such deformation absorbs the energy of forces tending to rotate the housings. It will be noticed that Correll discloses a four-sided energy absorber. Use of such an absorber has the effect of creating knit lines in the plastic surrounding the energy absorber or torsion member. At column 5, lines 27 et seq. Correll states: “The torsion member again has a polygonal cross-sectional conformation so as to closely mate with the side walls of the cavities and thereby prevent relative rotation between the torsion member and the housings. As shown in FIG. 6, torsion member 90 comprises an elongated hollow tubular member with axial portions thereof received in the housings. The inner periphery 94 of the tubular member closely receives filling areas 96 which extend inwardly thereinto from a pair of opposed end caps 98. Filling areas 96 conform to the interior of torsion member 90 to shorten the effective length thereof (FIG. 6) for reasons previously described.” Correll teaches that torsion members must be closely mated with respective cavities and that the torsion members may be filled to adjust the tolerance of the energy absorber from a torque standpoint. Correll contemplates use of a stampable fiber reinforced plastic for its housings and other materials. Knit lines are formed when fiber reinforced materials are molded and when obstructions to flow are present. When the flow path involves right angles knit lines are formed as the right angles provide an obstruction to flow. Knit lines do not integrate fibers with the polymeric material. Knit lines do not join the fibers together.
Although old school bus seats can be retrofitted and new seats can be manufactured as taught by my inventions as set forth in my '395 and '494 patents, it is highly desirable to provide a new school bus seat with superior safety performance and which is attractive and comfortable.